Nike Says The FuelBand Isn’t Dead, New Color Options Coming

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Nike was said to be shutting down its FuelBand department on the heels of layoffs on Friday, signalling a significant exit of the wearable fitness device market by one of the more prominent companies involved in the space. That’s not quite true, however, according to information provided to Re/code by the company.

There were indeed some layoffs, Nike confirmed, but it also said it’s still committed to the Nike+ FuelBand SE, plans new color options for the gadget and should support it and continue to sell it for the foreseeable future.

Nike plans to continue with its original plan of adding to the Silver and Rose Gold ‘Metaluxe’ edition Nike+ FuelBand SE models with the addition of colorways. It doesn’t mention anything regarding hardware beyond the current generation FuelBand models, however, which could indicate that its commitment to its wearable devices extends only as far as this particular gadget.

There has been some speculation that Nike plans to shift focus to software in the future, and possibly support the hardware efforts of others, including Apple. Apple is rumored to be working on an iWatch with health-tracking features, and its CEO Tim Cook sits on Nike’s board of directors.